Astrea Academy Trust
Many parents are concerned and angry about the Longsands and Ernulf secondary schools in St Neots, both run by Astrea Academy Trust. There have also been some very troubling statistics about how students feel, and reports of too many staff leaving or wanting to leave.
Our children’s education is way too important for it to be a political football during an election campaign. Yet, lots of you have said you want to know my views now, and political opponents are misrepresenting those views. So here’s what I think.
First, there can be no doubt that there are very real problems at these schools, regardless of the measures Astrea have put in place, or how Ofsted rates them.
No child should have to go to school where they feel afraid or unsafe. No child should feel excluded or left behind. No child should be leaving without GCSEs.
As a county councillor, I’ve met Astrea’s CEO twice and challenged her robustly. Yet, central government control of the Academy system makes high-level change — such as assigning schools to different Academies — frustratingly slow. The role of school governors is greatly diminished, and councillors no longer have direct levers to pull.
Only the Secretary of State can intervene, and legislation means they can do so only in specific circumstances. We’ve had an MP in the ruling party for years, with access to the Secretary of State, and it’s got us nowhere.
So, addressing the problems requires both short-term fixes, and long-term change. Neither of which have simple solutions. Love or hate Astrea, they’re currently responsible for our schools and that’s unlikely to change soon. We owe it to our children to improve what we can now.
When the General Election is over, I hope to be your MP. But even if not, I will remain vocal on this issue as a councillor. I’ll want an early meeting with Longsands and Ernulf’s parents and pupils and with Astrea. I want to hear your experiences in detail, and really understand your concerns on a personal level.
My entry into politics was as the Chair of Governors for a SEN school, which earned an outstanding Ofsted rating. I was responsible for hiring and firing the head teacher, and had the support of parents, community leaders and politicians. I know how to get schools to listen to and to address parents’ concerns. I’ve shown I can get people around a table, and get them all pulling in the right direction.
I’m in no doubt, though, that much greater, higher-level change is needed in the long term. Not only is it wrong that all St Neots’ schools are run by one Academy. The whole Academy system isn’t working.
As a councillor, today, I must work with what we have. But as your MP I want to bring nationwide change on this issue. Personally, I believe that all schools should be returned to local authority control, so local communities have a proper say in how they’re run.
But I will work across parties to deliver meaningful change. As I said at the beginning, this is too important an issue for political agendas to be involved.
